BYU Continues Multisport Recruiting Hot Streak By Landing Five-Star Quarterback

Everything's coming up Cougars.
Ryder Lyons runs the ball during a California state playoff game.
Ryder Lyons runs the ball during a California state playoff game. / JOE LUMAYA/SPECIAL TO THE STAR / USA TODAY NETWORK
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BYU's sports teams have spent the last academic year hinting at an imminent breakthrough. The Cougars football team posted its third 10-win season in the 2020s. Men's basketball reached the Sweet 16. The money is rolling in.

On Tuesday, BYU's winning streak continued in dramatic fashion. The Cougars landed a commitment from five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons of Folsom, Calif.—beating out Oregon for his services.

"They were the first ones to offer me a scholarship back in eighth grade. They pulled the trigger on me. They believed in me early," Lyons told ESPN analyst Pat McAfee on his eponymous show Tuesday. "It's just crazy how it all comes full circle, you know?"

Lyons, a Mormon, will serve a mission before taking the reins of the BYU football program.

When he arrives on campus, he is likely to follow on the heels of basketball forward AJ Dybantsa—the consensus top recruit in the country who will play for the Cougars in 2025–26.


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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .